{"id":611962126662,"date":"2025-11-13T14:33:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T14:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/blogs\/uncategorized\/what-a-lovely-thing-a-rose-is\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T08:42:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:42:21","slug":"what-a-lovely-thing-a-rose-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/blogs\/roses\/what-a-lovely-thing-a-rose-is\/","title":{"rendered":"“What a lovely thing a rose is”"},"content":{"rendered":"

So said Arthur Conan Doyle, author of more than 50 Sherlock Holmes mysteries and true devotee of the beauty of roses. <\/span>This year the roses have been spectacular. I\u2019m sure all of you will have seen and nurtured some fantastic roses<\/a>, many still at their best. I love them, having grown up with my mother\u2019s rose garden in Worcestershire and seeing her continued love for roses over the years and in different gardens when they moved house.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0I love the idea of massed roses in a bed – assuming a combination of the right colours (!) – but my wife (who has better taste than me) likes roses planted to create a splash and blend of colour amongst other flowers and plants.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also planted climbing roses<\/a> over a couple of arches to create height in an area of the garden that\u2019s fairly flat. They both have a heavenly fragrance and it\u2019s an instinctive treat as you walk by to lift a flower to your nose and inhale the lovely smell.<\/p>\n

We also have a deep pink rose bush that we planted by a barn years ago. Every summer it produces the most wonderfully exuberant little flowers in their hundreds, creating a glorious display of vibrant pink.<\/p>\n

On another wall of the barn there’s a climbing rose<\/a> that flowers early, but with suitably committed deadheading will flower again.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I find there\u2019s something quite therapeutic about deadheading – the flower has gone beyond its natural beauty and lifetime but the new buds will produce more stunning blooms. It reminds me of this rather philosophical quote, \u2018Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness, know that, like life, things must fade before they can bloom again\u2019<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Iceberg<\/p>\n

One of the greatest features of roses is their ability to repeat flower. Some flower continuously for months and some, depending on the weather, the type of rose and their location, can even flower well into winter. Another wondrous aspect of roses is the enormous variety available. There\u2019s literally a rose for all tastes and all sizes and types of garden including:<\/p>\n